October 28, 2002
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Activists on two sides of the racial divide will come together at Vanderbilt University Law School on Nov. 5 to debate the future of American race relations.
Jared Taylor, president of the New Century Foundation, a non-profit think tank that studies questions relating to race and immigration, and Tim Wise, one of the most prominent antiracist voices in the country, will participate in a forum titled “The New White Nationalism in America: Legitimate Movement or Racist Supremacy?” It was organized and will be moderated by Vanderbilt law professor Carol Swain, author of The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration.
The event, which starts at 4:30 p.m., will be held in the Alumni Room of the Vanderbilt University Law School at 131 21st Ave. S. It is free and open to the public. A reception with Taylor and Wise will follow the debate.
The format of the event will provide for both uninterrupted statements by the two opponents on the issue of race relations as well as open debate. Each participant will make an opening statement, followed by an exchange between the two and closing statements. The audience then will be invited to pose questions to Taylor and Wise.
Taylor has been editor of American Renaissance magazine since 1991. He is a former contributing editor of PC Magazine and also was a lending officer with Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. in New York and Tokyo. He is a sought-after lecturer and widely published author, having written numerous articles, essays and books. Taylor’s books include The Real American Dilemma: Race, Immigration, and the Future of America and Paved with Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America. He earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Yale University and his master’s degree in international economics from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.
A frequent lecturer and a public advocate for human and civil rights for the last two decades, Wise has been called “the foremost white, antiracist intellectual and activist in the nation.” He serves as an adviser to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute and is the former associate director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, the group credited by many with the political defeat of David Duke. He is the author of numerous essays and several books, including Great White Hoax: Responding to David Duke and the Politics of White Nationalism and the forthcoming collection of essays, Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Tulane University.
For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the Vanderbilt News Service homepage at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News or the Law School website at www.vanderbilt.edu/Law.
Contact: Susanne Loftis, 615-322-NEWS, susanne.loftis@vanderbilt.edu